Sunday, February 7, 2021

FotoSketcher 2021 roadmap

Hi all,

I have recently been busy on many fronts regarding FotoSketcher and here are some of my goals for the coming months:

Quarter 1:  release of FotoSketcher 3.80 with enhancements, bug fixes, a new painting effect (currently in development) and a new translation in Danish (a big thanks to Kenneth Tollund!). This will probably be the last release with the current interface and will be Windows only.

Quarter 2: release of a complete rewrite, which will run on both Windows and MacOS, with no restrictions (Catalina and Big Sur will be supported). At first only a subset of the current functionality will be available, but I will gradually add more. Most major effects will be supported from the start, but probably not manual brush, batch mode or scripts.

Thanks to the Patreon and PayPal donations of some generous users, I was able to purchase additional development tools to make FotoSketcher multiplatform. It still requires rewriting most of the codebase, but progress is reasonably fast.

Quarter 3: Android and iOS might well be back on the table, if technical feasibility tests are successful.

Here is a sneak peek of the upcoming multiplatform version of FotoSketcher:


Rant mode on: even though my program is freeware, I will have to pay Apple a $99 annual fee to become an official Apple developer. This is mandatory to enable Mac users on Catalina or Big Sur to run FotoSketcher.

I'll keep you posted here, so stay tuned and more importantly, stay safe!

All the best,

David




 

 


19 comments:

Vincent said...

Thank you! I enjoy using your programme. Is there a facebook or tutorial group anywhere? Enjoy 2021

David said...

Thank you, Vincent :)
Yes, there is a friendly group on FaceBook called "FotoSketcher users" (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2106056159686131) where you can showcase your creations and exchange tips with other users.
Best regards,
David

denny said...

amazing, never thought about a effect like "anime" movies of shnkai like 5 centimeters for second or your name are background more realistic, like oil paint but with a lot of details and hard edges.

or the style of ghost in the shell. If someone can achieve something similar is fotosketcher :D take a look at this movies if can be inspirational for a future filter :) good work and good luck :)

David said...

Thanks denny, I'll definitely look into a more anime style.

Marcel said...

Hi David,
I really like to thank you for this software. Working on this professional style software as a single person and giving it still for free is tremendous.

I found a way to combine its effects with my 360-photography on Google Streetview. Now you can stand virtually within a painting. With goggles even more exciting.

Paintstroke abstract (my hometown Bad Camberg, Germany):
https://goo.gl/maps/2FXYfRLJievs7XaD6

Paintstroke oil (old city of Veere, Netherlands):
https://goo.gl/maps/Xw3itCfjht3R8tjNA

Aquarell style (Bad Camberg again):
https://goo.gl/maps/ME6DTcmUmaExgZj68

I´ve been in Lyon a few years ago and did some 360-spheres over there. They are next on my list.

Thanks again, keep on working. I´ll look for the donate-button now.
Best wishes for 2021!!!

Marcel, show360.de

David said...

Dear Marcel,
Thank you very much for your comment! Your 360-photos are incredible, I'm so happy to see FotoSketcher used in such a creative manner :)
All the best from sunny Lyon,
David

Zakir said...

Good news on the Android and iOS if technical feasibility tests are successful.

Hope its successful.

David said...

Thanks Zakir, I also hope it will work!

Albrecht said...

Hi David. I would like to thank you for this wonderful program. My name is Albrecht. I live in Santiago de Chile. I'm using this program for years and I made a lot of paintings. Please view my website. http://albrechtpaintings.atwebpages.com

David said...

Hi Albrecht,
Thank you for your comment. I went to your website and really like your use of Painting 4!
Thanks to you I also discovered the very nice freeware PixBulider Studio, which is a great complement to Paint.Net.

Albrecht said...

Hi David. I'am very glad that you like my paintings. I'm looking forward to see the new version of Fotosketcher. There are some ideas I have. May it be possible to add Photoshop plugin support. On the other hand it would be nice to import our own frames and textures. Just my humble opinion. Looking forward to see your first release soon. Keep on with your good work.
Best regards
Albrecht

David said...

Hi Albrecht,
I don't think I can easily create a Potohshop plugin, but adding your own frames and textures is indeed a possibilty for the new version.

Unknown said...

Bonjour David,

I also fully support the suggestion to add our own frames and textures. That would be a great addition.

Merci encore pour tout le travail que tu fais pour permettre à nos neurones de travailler leur créativité !

Peter

David said...

Bonjour Peter,
Merci :)
I'm making progress on V3.80. I'm currently looking at how best to add custom frames (textures might be trickier though as they would need to be seamless).

Anonymous said...

Hi David.
I'm glad you work on frames and textures. There is a free program from Mediachance named Photo seam. "PhotoSEAM is an unique, special purpose full featured image editor for creating seamless photo realistic textures and tiles from digital photography, or from scratch". https://mediachance.com/wp/free/photo-seam/. This would eliminate the problem with seamless textures. Looking forward for the new release.
Keep on with the good work.
Best regards
Albrecht
http://albrechtpaintings.atwebpages.com

David said...

Hi Albrecht,
I've just finished adding support for custom frames. At the moment, you simply drag and drop a transparent .png frame on the right panel and it is automatically added to the picture. I might integrate the feature better with other frames in the final release, but at least it works for now. I'va also finished 3 or 4 new features and a beta version will be available for download soon.
I'll look into PhotoSeam for textures, thanks for the tip.
Cheers,
David

Albrecht said...

Hi David.
These are the codes for the free program:
Registration code:
Serial #: BSG471369A8787
Unlock #: 6dd1-591a-757b-e761
The codes can also be found on the right side of the Photoseam page. In the program you can import canvas textures and make them seamless.
Looking forward for the new release.
Cheers
Albrecht

Albrecht said...

Hi.David. Nice release. But I could not drag and drop the transparent PNG frame onto the right-panel image.
Maybe i'm doing something wrong? Dragging the image to the right nothing happens. When y drag it to the left image the cursor changes and then the images disapear leaving a white background. I have windows 7 ultimate installed.
Please have a look.
Best regards
Albrecht

David said...

Hi Albrecht,
It could be that the png file you are trying to use as a frame is not recognized (it has to be a 32 bit PNG). Can you send it to me by mail (contact at fotosketcher.com)? Best,
David